Fruit or vegetable slicing machine.



No. 663,635. Patented Dec. u I900.

.1. B. MURRAY. I

FRUIT 0B VEGETABLE SLICING MACHINE.

. (Application filed Jan. 23. 1899.)

(No Model.)

UNITED Sra'rns nrnnr rrrcti.

JOSEPH BARRETT MURRAY, OF DU QUOIN, ILLINOIS.

FRUIT OR VEGETABLE SLICING MACHlNE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,635, dated December11, 1900. Application filed January 23, 1899- Serial No. 703,206; (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH BARRETT MUR- RAY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Du Quoin, in the county of Perry and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Fruit or Vegetable SlicingMachine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fruit, Vegetable, and meat slicing machines,and has for its object the provision of a device of this class whichwill be simple in construction and easy of operation and adapted toperform its offices in a highly-satisfactory manner.

One of theprincipal objects of the invention is the provisionof improvedmeans for feeding the material to the cutting or slicing mechanism andgaging the thickness of the slices.

Another object is to provide improved means for removing the slice inorder to allow a regular and steady feed of the material being out andprevent clogging.

A further object is to provide a novel form of feed-box which will beadapted for the proper accommodation of different kinds of material tobe out.

Having the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention consistsof certain improved features and novel combinations of parts appearingmore in detail hereinafter and particularly recited in the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, anend view looking toward the gage-disk; Fig. 3, a detail plan view of thefeed-box; Fig. 4, a cross-section thereof, taken in front of the feeder;Fig. 5, a face View of the gage and delivery-disk; Fig. 5, a detailperspective view of a portion of the disk. Fig. 6 is'a view of theknifeguide; Fig. 7, a viewof the knife; Fig. 8, a detail of the guideend of the knife; 'Fig. 9, a detail of the ratchet; Fig. 10, a viewillustrating the use of a false bottom in the feedbox; Fig. 11, a detailof a modified form of ratchet.

The frame of the machine consists of uprights 1, having feet 2,connected by a crossbar 3.

O is a feed-box secured to one of the uprights 1 for holding the fruit,vegetables, meat, or other material to be sliced, which is open at thetop and the end adjacent the slicing mechanism and has a \I-shapedbottom H to facilitate the guiding and proper retention of the materialwhen being sliced. In the box and extending thereacross is a feeder 9,which has pins 13, adapted to travel in slots 13 in the sides of thebox, thus guiding the feeder in its movement and preventing it fromrising in the box. The feeder has a supplemental piece 29, of V shape,fitting the bottom of the feed-box, and this piece can be secured to themain portion 9 of the feeder in any preferred manner permittingdetachment. In the present instance I provide braces 29, secured tothepiece 29 arid fitting in loops 9 on the feeder 9. The piece 29 is madedetachable in order that it can be removed and a false bottom 30 fittedin the feedbox when certain kinds of vegetables, fruit, and bread are tobe sliced which can be out to better advantage on a flat bottom.

The automatic steady feed of the feeder is accomplished by rods 12,secured thereto, which pass loosely through the closed end of the box,and coil-springs 11, surrounding the rods and interposed between thefeeder and the said closed end.

Journaled in suitable hearings on the uprights 1 above the feed-box is apower-shaft 4, having a crank 4 and operated by suitablemultiplying-gearing G.

A represents the knife or cutter for taking off the slice, the samebeing provided with a pitman F, which is connected to the crank 4'. Thisknife is positioned to play across the open end of the feed-box in closeproximity thereto and carries a stub-shaft 25 at its free end, on whicha roller 10 is held by a Washer and cotter 26.

A guide D, having a right-angular slot (1 therein, is secured to thefeed-box, and the roller 10 travels in said slot.

The knife carries ratchet mechanism E, (shown in detail in Fig. 9,)comprisinga stubshaft 19, secured to the face of the knife, a collar 20having a hub 23 and=-secured to the shaft by a set-screw 20", and astop-collar 20 having asemicircular recess 21 in its face and secured tothe shaft by a set-screw 21, and a spring 22, which has one end securedto collar 20 at 22, is then coiled around hub 23 and finally passedaround the ratchet E. The

ratchet E is loosely mounted on the shaft 19 and located between the twocollars, and it has a lug e, which is positioned to move in the recess21 and abut the shoulders at the ends of said recess, which limit theplay of the ratchet.

I sometimes prefer to employ the ratchet shown in Fig. 11, where theratchet is hung.

from the pitman 4 at 27 and is provided with a hooked or bent end 28.

The n umeral designates a rotatable stubshaft projecting from thestandard 1 toward the delivery end of the feed-box and supported by abracket 16.

B is a combined gage and delivery-disk having a serrated or ribbed face17 and teeth 18 on its edge, said disk being secured on shaft 15 by aset-screw passing through its hub 14. The serrated face of the disk islocated adjacent the knife A, and the ratchet E is pressed against theteeth 18 on the disk by the spring 22. The set-screw on the diskconstitutes a means for adjusting the disk on the shaft toward and awayfrom the knife, thereby making provision for cutting the. material beingsliced into slices of any thickness, as the springs 11 will always holdthe material pressed against the serrated face of been placed in thefeed-box is pushed forward and against the face of the disk by thefeeder, and when the gearing G is operated the knife takes off a slicefrom the end of the material,

- being guided in its movement by the slot.

When the knife is drawn back by the rotation of its shaft, the ratchetengages the teeth on the disk and rotates it, whereupon the disk removesthe slice already cut, and the material remaining in the feed-box isthen fed forward ready for a new cut.

It is obvious that this invention could be varied in many particularswithout impairing its efficiency or changing its operation, and I do nottherefore limit myself to the precise constructions herein shown anddescribed, but consider that I am entitled to all changes coming withinthe spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a feed-boxhaving a depending trough-like bottom, and a false bottom above saiddepending bottom, of a feeder movable in said box composed of a mainmember fitting the upper part of the box, and a supplemental member,detachably connected to the main member and adapted to fit the dependingportion of the box when the false bottom is removed.

'2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a feed-box,of a movable abutment for the end of the material from which the sliceis to be taken, which remains stationary while the slice is being cut,and a cutter-knife and means for operating the abutment when the slicehas been cut.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a feed-box,of a rotatable disk located adjacent the delivery end of the box andconstituting an abutment for the material being out, and which remainsstationary while the slice is being cut, means for rotating said disk oncompletion of the cut, and a knife or cutter.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a feed-box,of a rotatable abutment-disk located adjacent the delivcry end of thebox and adjustable toward and away from said end, whereby the thicknessof the slice can be regulated, and a knife or cutter which ismovableindependently of the disk.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a feed-box,of a knife or cutter operating across said box, a rotatableabutment-disk located adjacent the end of the box adapted to remove theslice after it has been cut, and a ratchet on the knife adapted toengage the disk to rotate it.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a feed-box,of a knife or cutter operating across the box, a rotatable abutment-disklocated adjacentthe end of the box adapted to remove the slice after ithas been out, said disk having ratchet-teeth, a stub-shaft on the knife,two separated collars secured to the shaft, one of which has a recessprovided with two shoulders, a ratchet loose on the shaft and locatedbetween the collars, said ratchet having a lug adapted to play in therecess and engage the shoulders, and a spring connected to one collarand holding the ratchet in engagement with the teeth on the disk.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with a feed-box,of a rotatable abutment-disk for the material and a cutter or knifewhich is independently movable.

J. BARRETT MURRAY.

Witnesses:

DECATUR A. SMITH, JAMES A. DUNN.

